


Family

by PBJiffy



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Brian just wants to be a good friend, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Homesickness, It’s all pretty fluffy, It’s all pretty platonic tho, Jae!centric, Mostly Fluff, Somebody please give Jae a hug, light angst?, nothing too descriptive though, protective!brian, slight emotional breakdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 12:57:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16723854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PBJiffy/pseuds/PBJiffy
Summary: Jae is acting weird and distant and Brian is going to get to the bottom of it.OrJae starts to feel homesick and the boys think of a way to make him feel better.





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So I’ve never posted one of my works before, and truthfully I’m kinda nervous about it, but I decided to give it a shot! Please let me know if anything is wrong (I tried to catch all of the mistakes, but honestly, if I read it one more time I would have probably changed the whole thing). Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Without further ado, onto the story. Happy reading!

Jae sighed as he turned off his computer. He had just had an hour long Skype call with his sister that had been grueling enough on his stressed out mind to leave him drained and in the mood to hide away by himself for a couple hours. Sure, while he was talking to her he was able to keep up his normal cheery facade, smiling and laughing along to her stories and ramblings, but he could feel himself quickly slipping and was almost positive she noticed as the light in his eyes seemed to dim just a fraction, his grin refusing to meet his eyes.

The brunet hunched over the computer, his body crumpling in on itself as he felt his exhausted body start to give in. He knew he was fading, but quite honestly, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Jae was so caught up in his personal pity fest that he failed to notice an extra presence joining him in the room. It wasn’t until a warm hand found solace on his shoulder did he snap out of his trance. Startled, he let out a little shriek, nearly falling out of his chair in the process. In fact, he probably would have had it not been for the other’s quick reflexes, effectively halting his downward trajectory and keeping him hanging, somewhat precariously, on the edge of his chair.

“Jae hyung?”

Ah, Brian. So _he_ was the one responsible for nearly making Jae lose his life! Ok, maybe that was a little much. But Jae was nothing if a not drama queen and he surely wouldn’t let an opportunity like this pass him up.

Groaning out a whiny _BriBri~,_ Jae righted himself in the chair before turning to fully face the other.

“What were you thinking scaring me like that? You could have killed me! You’re so lucky I’m alive right now. What would you do without me? Your most trusted hyung? Your valued guitar player? Your silky, smooth vocals that make all the ladies swoon-“

He was cut off by Brian’s incredulous laugh.

“Alright, princess. Enough of that.”

“Tsk. You’re no fun BriBri. What do you want anyway? Can’t you see that I am extremely busy?”

Jae made a grand sweeping motion with his hands, indicating his desk which was scattered with a few stray lyric sheets that had been dislodged when his head made contact with the solid surface. Other than that, the desk only contained his computer ( _the computer you just turned off_ his brain helpfully supplied) and a few other miscellaneous items dotted around, hardly enough to be considered _something_. Brian quirked an eyebrow, trying to stifle his laughter.

“Ah, yes your majesty. I’m sure it is so troublesome for you to fall asleep while ‘working’. Quite a difficult task if I may say so myself. But I can see just how fantastic of a job you are doing at it!”

Jae let out a huff, narrowing his eyes. Of course he could see the mischievous glint twinkling in the raven-haired male’s own irises, but he was hardly in a mood for playing right now and the other’s banter was only serving to spike his irritation. The scowl that made its way to his face was very unlike him but still nothing short of threatening.

“Shut up, Brian. I don’t have time to mess around right now. If you didn’t need anything then just go away.”

“Hey, hey. I’m just kidding. Don’t be like that. Besides, aren’t I just allowed to come and have a conversation with you sometimes?”

Jae simply glared at the other, taking his placating tone to be condescending. Rather than further amuse the younger, he turned his back and chose to ignore him, knowing that Brian eventually would get bored and leave.

“Jae hyung?”

No response.

“Seriously?”

Nothing.

“Jae, man, c’mon.”

The other just sat there reveling in the tension-filled silence, petulantly ignoring all of the other’s attempts at conversation and effectively silencing them.

Frowning, Brian huffed out a tiny _whatever_ , making his way from the room and towards what Jae assumed was the common area.

Sighing once again, Jae picked his heavy limbs out of the chair and flopped face-first onto his bed, not even bothering to change out of his day clothes into a different set. He simply laid there awhile, allowing his emotions to flood over him and course through his veins, taking control of his body and leaving him sluggish, dull. After a while he managed to drag himself under the covers, burrowing himself into their comforting warmth, shielding himself from the world outside.

He knew he shouldn’t have snapped at the other. Brian was only trying to help and Jae had to go and ruin the younger’s good mood too. _Way to bring everyone down to your level, Park._

Jae hated being this way, hated the way his body and mind seemed to be at odds, his mind refusing to give him peace while his body longed for nothing more than the sweet release of sleep.

Feeling out of his element and unable to function, Jae allowed those tiresome emotions to run through him until, eventually, he succumbed to the welcoming, albeit perilous, embrace of sleep. Hopefully he would feel a little better after some much needed rest.

 * * *

Brian exited his hyung’s room with a crease in his brows, feeling perplexed but overall extremely worried for his friend.

Jae had seemed fine earlier. Yeah, maybe he was tired, but that was to be expected! After all, they had been working hard with their albums and tours and practices and all of them were tired. Heck, Brian would probably be concerned if Jae _wasn’t_ tired after all of the pressure that was being put on them. Luckily, they had been granted a couple days break by management; days that Brian had _hoped_ the members would spend resting or just enjoying their free time. He wanted to come in to find Wonpil and Dowoon playing each other at a game of Mario-Kart, watching as Sungjin laughed when Wonpil inevitably lost, whining over how _it wasn’t fair that Dowoonie practiced more than him! Of course he would win!_ He had hoped to look out over the room and see Jae, half-watching as he hummed a random tune under his breath, probably some unconscious inspiration for their next album. He would have even been fine if they had decided to write a new song: after all, that is how Brian himself relieved stress. All he wanted was for them to be doing was something other than _stressing_. They all had enough pressure in their lives and they didn’t need to be worrying during their free time too!

Obviously though, Jae didn’t get that memo. Brian could clearly see that something was wrong with the older the second he stepped into the room. He had seen the taut set to his shoulders, watching as he seemed to tremble almost absentmindedly. He had heard the ragged breaths that had escaped the other’s lips, ones he wasn’t sure if even Jae knew were present. Honestly, for a moment Brian had thought that Jae was crying, and all of his instincts had screamed at him to _figure out what’s wrong. Go help Jae now._

He had hoped that he would somehow be able to brighten the other’s mood, maybe play around with him as they always did to help cheer the other up. Apparently though, Jae was more stressed than he had initially thought, the older merely snapping at him before ignoring him completely, leaving Brian no room for argument as he slunk away, sulking all the while.

Naturally, Brian knew something was wrong. The only problem was he had no idea _what_ was wrong _._ He could chalk it up to the stress (that of course was a major factor to Jae’s moods a majority of the time) but something was different. He had seemed almost too tense. Besides, they had been together all day, and not once had the other given any indication that he was feeling overwhelmed or overworked. Tired? Yes. But that wasn’t enough to warrant Jae snapping at Brian. No, something else was going on. Something had happened in between the time they got home and now.

Wracking his brain for any possible explanations, Brian suddenly recalled overhearing Jae talking to somebody over Skype before he had entered the room. _His sister. Jae had said he was going to call his sister. Did she tell him something that made him upset? Is something going on at home?_

Brian was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to notice the presence looming right in front of him until he nearly ran into said obstacle.

Sucking in a sharp breath, the wide-eyed male jolted backward, muttering out an _oh hyung!_ Standing before him was none other than their leader Sungjin who, at the moment, looked slightly perturbed yet concerned for the younger member.

“Younghyun. Where are you off to so late at night?”

“Oh no, I’m not going anywhere hyung, I’m just- I, uhhh, I just-“

Unable to form a coherent sentence, Brian watched as Sungjin raised a brow, clearly concerned for his younger friend.

“You’re just...”

Closing his eyes, Brian took a deep breath, stopping for a moment to collect his thoughts. When he reopened them, Sungjin was still standing there with that expectant expression, not willing to let his dongsaeng go until he was sure that the other was truly alright.

“Hyung, it’s just- I’m worried about Jae hyung. I went to talk to him a few minutes ago, but he just completely shut me out! Earlier he was completely fine, but now- now it’s just like he’s shut off from the world! He tells me everything. You know that! And besides, something just seemed really off about him.”

By the time Brian’s brief tirade was over, he was red-faced and out of breath. Sungjin let out a tiny noise of disapproval, regarding the other with a calculating gaze.

“Alright, first off, breathe dude. You’re not going to accomplish anything if you’re too worked up over it. Now, are you sure something is wrong with Jae hyung? He could just be tired. Or stressed. You know how hard he’s been working lately.”

Brian quickly shook his head, hair falling into his eyes and making him look like a pouting child. The slight whine to his tone just furthered to evoke that opinion from the elder.

“No hyung! I thought that at first too, but something was really wrong. I- I don’t really know how to explain it. Something is just _wrong_.”

Sungjin frowned, hating to see one of his members so upset. Sighing, he resigned himself to the fact that the only way to get the other to simmer down was if he agreed to help him find an answer to ‘The Mystery of Jae’s Mood’. ( _We are not calling it that Wonpil._

_But hyung~_

_No._

_Ugh. No fun.)_

The two made their way to the living room where Sungjin forced Brian to reveal everything that he knew about the situation. _Really Younghyun? You’re just basing all of this off a hunch? Ugh, fine. Children, I swear._ Ignoring the other’s little indignant squawk of _Hey!,_ Sungjin began to file through some possible causes for the shift in their eldest’s mood.

After gathering that something must have happened in Jae’s family that caused his erratic behavior, the duo enlisted the help of Dowoon and Wonpil to hasten the process and hopefully find the solution to making their eldest feel like himself again sooner.

The group had been discussing possibilities for nearly an hour, pondering ways they could maybe get Jae to confessto what was causing him to be so worked up or even figure a way to contact his sister to find out what was going on. Brian tried to recall if Jae had mentioned anything strange going on in his family prior to that evening but came up empty-handed.

Downtrodden with their lack of progress, Dowoon let out an exasperated groan, burying the heels of his palms into his eyes. 

“This is stupid! How are we going to even know if there is something personal going on? What if somebody is like having surgery or something? What if somebody died and he can’t make the funer-“ 

The maknae was suddenly cut off by the sound of elated shrieking. Wonpil was sitting next to him, practically vibrating in his seat as he stared excitedly at something on his phone. The boy looked at the rest of the group with his sunshine smile, yelling “I got it!”

Brian was lost. How could Wonpil have possibly figured out what was going on. They had already determined that it was something going on within the family, given the fact that Jae had to learn it through his sister. How on earth could Wonpil have gotten such sensitive information so quickly?

“What?”

Apparently, he was not the only one, the maknae quickly voicing out his confusion as well. Wonpil merely groaned. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the younger’s arm, shaking him violently while screeching, “C’mon Woonie! It’s not that hard!”

Sungjin, ever the voice of reason, forced Wonpil to stop shaking Dowoon who had started to look quite pale and dizzy under the older’s wrath.

“Pillie. Maybe you have it figured out but the rest of us are lost. Care to enlighten us?”

Huffing out in response, Wonpil gave up on shaking the poor maknae, directing his attention to the leader instead.

“Thanksgiving, hyung!" 

“Thanksgiving?”

Wonpil rolled his eyes again, clearly annoyed that the others weren’t understanding the situation as quickly as he was.

“Yes, Thanksgiving. Today is Thanksgiving in America. Jae hyung explained it to me once. Apparently, every year they were given the week out of school and his family would get together and have a big dinner and just enjoy time together. It was one of the only times they really got to spend time all at the same place. He’s going to have to miss it this year because he’ll be here in Korea and not in America!”

Ok, Brian was really lost now. Thanksgiving? That’s what made Jae so snappish? Surely not. He wouldn’t have been that angry had it just been over a little holiday. Voicing his thoughts, he glanced over at Sungjin, expecting the older to hold the same sentiments as him, but instead he was just met with a face of calm understanding.

“Younghyun. Think about it. I’m not sure if it’s entirely about Thanksgiving, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the tipping point.”

“Hyung?”

Sungjin simply shook his head, silencing his younger friend.

“Jae has been stressed out lately, even more than usual. We know that, we have all seen it. He has been tired, as well. I think he has probably been feeling pretty stressed and homesick for awhile now, and remembering that he won’t be with his family on a special holiday probably just triggered some sort of emotional breakdown. You said he was talking to his sister, right?”

Brian merely nodded in confirmation, still trying to see where his hyung was going with his line of questioning.

“She probably mentioned Thanksgiving to him, about how the family would miss him and all that good stuff. I’m sure it just made him overwhelmed to be reminded of all that he is missing out on living away from his home country, whether he consciously realized it or not. It probably just all culminated without him really noticing and you ended up being on the receiving end of his anger.”

Ok. That... made a little more sense. However, the explanation just made Brian feel awful. Of course, he could relate to Jae partially. He had lived in Canada for four years. Homesickness was no stranger to him. He had never had quite the same reaction, though.He hoped he never had to get to the point where he felt so ostracized within his own home.

“What can we do to help though?”

Brian simply listened as Sungjin tried to convince the other two to just l _et it blow over. I’m sure Jae will be fine._

Brian, however, had seen how Jae was acting, had seen that dazed, faraway look in the older’s eyes. He refused to just let it blow over as Sungjin had suggested. He was going to do something to help. Quickly mulling over ways to get through to the older, Brian let out a little gasp.

Snapping his fingers, he jumped up. With twinkling eyes, the raven-haired shouted, “Let’s host our own Thanksgiving dinner!”

“Younghyun. How are we supposed to do that? None of us have even ever celebrated Thanksgiving. We have no idea what to do.”

Brian simply scoffed.

“That’s what Google is for! Besides, how hard can it be?”

* * * 

Apparently, it was a lot harder than Brian was anticipating. He had no idea the _kinds_ of foods that Americans insisted on eating during their holiday. According to the trusty internet, Thanksgiving dinners were very specific and kinda complicated. Seriously? They just all roast Turkeys and bake pies and make corn on the cob and it’s _normal_? He wasn’t even sure if he could figure out how to make any of that, let alone get all the ingredients that he would need for it! And where could he even dream of getting decorations for the holiday on such short notice? It wasn’t even celebrated in their country! Nobody was going to have anything like that!

Scowling, he threw himself down on the couch, entangling his fingers in his hair. Brian simply sat there awhile, allowing himself to feel sorry for their situation while he listened to the maknae line bicker in the background. 

_(“Hyung, I don’t think that’s how you make a pie...”_  

_“Are you doubting hyung’s abilities Dowoonie?”_

_“Yes.”)_

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before he felt the couch dip next to him, alerting him to the fact that somebody had joined him.

Giving his raven locks one last tug, he ran his hands over his face, coming eye to eye with Sungjin. The older boy simply gave him a kind, reassuring smile, inquiring if something was wrong.

“I wanna do something that’ll make Jae hyung happy, but it’s so complicated. I’m not sure where we’re even supposed to get half of this stuff! Why is this so hard? At this rate I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to give him a Thanksgiving like the ones he had at home.”

“Why does it have to be like the ones he had at home?”

“Hyung?” 

He was met with silence. Glancing at the older, Brian noticed a wise glint in the other’s eyes, signaling that the Sungjin was up to something. The look made Brian uneasy, but he didn’t have time to question if further before his thoughts were cut off. In the end, the older merely smiled. Standing up, he gave the other a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry Hyunnie. We’ll figure something out.”

* * *

Jae woke up the next morning feeling more tired and frustrated than he had when he went to sleep.

_Great. Just great._

He groaned, shifting within the bunk. If Jae was being completely honest, he would gladly hide himself away all day, preferring to spend it wallowing in his own misery than dealing with others. But alas, he couldn’t afford that luxury and so, he pulled himself off the mattress, grumbling all the while. 

Jae spent a good five minutes preparing himself to go and face his other members (ok maybe it was ten minutes, but nobody needed to know that). Once he had finally managed to stumble to the door and yank it open, however, his resolve crumbled. All it took was one look at Wonpil’s bright and shining features to make him whirl around and march straight back into his room.

_Nope. Not today._

Rather than climbing back under his covers to avoid everyone, however, Jae opted to pull on a set of his warmest, most comfortable clothes. So what if he was in an old, worn-out hoodie and sweatpants. He was tired. He was upset. He didn’t care what he looked like. Let him be.

Running a hand through his sandy locks, Jae sighed, steeling himself for the onslaught of questions he was sure was coming his way.

Peeking around the corner of his door, Jae glanced around, hoping to avoid confrontation at all costs. Everybody suddenly seemed to have dissipated. Seizing his opportunity, he dashed out of the room and towards the front door, muttering out something to Sungjin along the way about being back soon before making his hasty escape.

Once outside, he breathed out a sigh of relief. _Finally_. At least outside he was free to roam and allow himself to mope for awhile.

Jae decided to just randomly stroll the streets of Seoul, not caring about where he was going or what he was doing. Allowing his mind to wander, he lost himself in the bustling city streets.

He allowed himself to feel free and forget his worries for awhile as the gentle wind brushed against his cheekbones, seemingly caressing him to make him feel marginally lighter on the inside. Smiling, Jae took another steadying breath, feelingslightly better than he had previously. 

What couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes later, Jae felt a vibration coming from his phone. He huffed out in annoyance. _Couldn’t they leave him be for five minutes? He’s only been gone for- oh._ He’s been gone for nearly two hours. Apparently he had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he had completely lost track of time.

Fumbling to unlock his phone for a moment, Jae quickly viewed the invasive message.

_Sungjin: Jae, when are you coming back home?_

_Please hurry._

_Jae we need you back here. Quickly please._

Ok, that was odd. Very rarely did Sungjin text Jae to see what he was doing, especially on their days off. Assuming that something was wrong-like _seriously_ _wrong_ -Jae whipped around, trying to get back to the dorms as quickly as he could.

* * *

Jae was sure he made it back to their home in record time. _Seriously, how far had he walked?_ It hadn’t seemed like that much at the time. By the time he made it back, he was sufficiently worried. He was sure his quick text of _omw_ to Sungjin hadn’t been very reassuring to the other either, but he wasn’t willing to spend more time than necessary answering his dongsaeng, not when he was needed back. 

Taking just a moment to catch his breath, he swung open the door, scrambling to get inside as fast as he could. Once there, his eyes darted around, seeking out any signs of a disturbance. Upon seeing none, he let out a tiny sound of confusion before calling out a slightly shaky “Sungjin?”

Jae heard the sound of something being dropped followed by muffled cursing and the telltale sounds of shushing.

“Ah! In the kitchen Jae hyung!”

Thoroughly confounded, Jae slipped off his shoes, picking his way to the kitchen. Sungjin’s texts had seemed so urgent, so why did he suddenly sound so calm and- oh. 

Jae’s eyes turned into saucers as he took in the scene in front of him. The kitchen was a mess of balloons and streamers strewn about, as if it was set up for a party of some sort. The boys had even decorated the table, setting out a fancy tablecloth ( _where did they get that?)_ which had food lain out across it. Jae was pretty sure that he saw most of his favorites. Bulgogi, bibimbap, japchae, Ddukbokki, and even fried chicken. And _what the heck? Was that cake? What was going on?_

Jae was confused. He’s not sure how they even had time to get all of this food, not to mention how much it must’ve cost them. Most importantly, though, Jae wasn’t sure _why_ they had all of this. _Did he miss something? It is a birthday? Anniversary of something? Why were they celebrating and why didn’t he know about it?_

Standing in the center of it all were his members, a sheepish looking Brian stepping forward to offer up an explanation. Jae gave him a curious look before the other muttered out a shy “Happy belated Thanksgiving, hyung.”

All Jae could seem to do was mumble out an intelligent “what?”

Flushing, Brian scrambled to explain himself.

“Well- you see- yesterday was Thanksgiving in America, and you seemed really upset last night when I was talking to you, so we wanted to do something since you couldn’t be there for it! It’s- it’s not exactly like a traditional Thanksgiving... more like a Korean version... yeah! A Korean Thanksgiving! And we know you can’t have your family here, but, well, we’re here and we’re all pretty good at eating in my opinion...”

He hadn’t even realized when he slipped into english, the language blending into his korean so seamlessly and making it to where he was sure nobody could interpret what he was trying to say. Brian trailed off his rambling with a flustered grin, seemingly realizing how stupid he sounded. Much to his concern, however, after the somewhat sorry explanation, Jae just stood unmoving, staring at them with his jaw agape.

“Jae hyung?”

They watched as their eldest suddenly sagged to the ground, all the built up tension from earlier releasing itself from his body. He let out a sob, tears rapidly making their way down his cheeks as he crouched on the floor.

Brian raced forward, dropping to his knees beside the older, suddenly increasingly concerned for the brunet.

“Jae hyung? Is something wrong? Did- did we do something? Were we wrong? Oh my gosh something is seriously wrong isn’t it oh my gosh I’m so sorry we just wanted to help we had no idea-“

His panicked rambling was effectively cut off by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his form, arms suddenly full of one trembling Park Jaehyung.

“J-Jae?”

It took him awhile, but he eventually was able to make out the garbled thank yous falling from the elders lips. Relaxing, the younger allowed a gentle smile to creep along his features, simply choosing to hold his friend closer as he sobbed.

The two sat on the floor for awhile after that, the younger merely offering his hyung comfort during the trying times.

Brian was sure that had he not been holding the other so closely, he would have missed the little _sorry_ that tumbled from the other’s lips. Confused, he pulled slightly away from the other, meeting his teary gaze.

“I’m sorry Bri. For last night. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just- I guess-“

Jae never had a chance to finish that thought, for before he knew it, his cheek was pressed back into Brian’s chest, hovering over the others steadying heartbeat. He felt gentle fingers start to caress his hair, and with that, he let himself go, embracing the comfort that was being offered to him, knowing that he was forgiven.

* * * 

Later that night, after Jae had calmed down and the tear tracks had dried, he was curled into Brian’s side on their worn-out couch, eyes closed and breathing steady. The five of them were were all stuffed into the living room after the feast, just enjoying each other’s company. Not long after their dinner, Jae had adopted a faraway look, not really participating in the festivities. Brian had given him a knowing smile before tugging him to the living room where they had yet to leave. The others had resolved to just give him time, knowing that his emotional break had caused a massive drain on his body. In all honesty, they were just glad that he had opened up to them and didn’t want to cause even more unnecessary stress on his already fragile frame. Assuming that he had fallen asleep, nobody was expecting the quiet but thoughtful voice that broke through the peaceful atmosphere.

“You’re wrong you know.”

Brian gave the American a confused glance, questions hanging on his lips. 

“You guys are my family. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world, even if it meant giving up Thanksgiving for the rest of my life.”

Jae hid his face after the words had escaped, embarrassed at being so vulnerable in front of his members.

Had he been looking, however, he would have seen four sets of fond eyes directed at him, their owners feeling more fortunate than they ever had. Maybe they were a little unusual, and maybe they weren’t conventional, but those boys had become a family, and they would always make sure to take care of their own.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read my story! I hope you enjoyed it. Honestly I’m not 100% sure if it was completely accurate, but I tried my best to be pretty continuous. Please feel free to tell me what you thought! I hope you have a wonderful day 💖


End file.
